For this review, I am focusing mainly on the anime (and not the game), but I may comment on some choices the anime makes in adopting certain aspects of the game. This review contains a few spoilers, but nothing too major. Take caution in reading it though.
STORY: 6
Magia Record doesn't come close to the original Madoka Magica when it comes to story. The protagonist, Iroha Tamaki's entire goal is to look for her sister in Kamihana City. This premise, alone, seems interesting, but that the anime executes this is jarring and offputting.
In Episode 1, Iroha Tamaki has a friend who tells her about a dream. Her friend tells her that "magical girls can be saved in Kamihana City." However, after episode 1, that friend just disappears and we never see her again. She's an anime addition to the cast of characters and wasn't present in the Magia Record game. I imagine that she was added to introduce the audience into this world and give Iroha a reason to travel to Kamihana City. Hopefully, they will bring her back at one point or another, but her presence and then absence from the first episode to the next few leaves the question of why Magic Girls outside Kamihana City are having the dream unanswered.
This is just one example of the anime feeling disjointed. From episodes 2-4, scenes cut from Iroha thinking about her sister to Iroha walking or just Iroha having conversations with Magic Girls. There are interesting things going on in the background (for example, advertisements switch on and off as Kaede and Reina converse over lunch), but they don't make up for the lack of connection between the scenes. If the directors were going for a feel or fluidity, perhaps Iroha wandering throughout Kamihana City not knowing what's going on, they didn't do it right.
ART: 9
The art is GORGEOUS and Shaft is back at it again with their eye candy. I appreciate all the attention to background detail (in episode 4, as the girls talk, each one is eating their snack in a different way). The witch labyrinths are eerie as usual, but they don't quite reach the power of the original ones (though I may just be used to them since they're based on the game labyrinths). The only reason why I bumped the art down to a 9 was that there were blatant CGI creatures in episode 1 that did not look right in the setting.
SOUND: 7
The music itself is beautiful; however, the usage of it is not. In episode 1, so many different songs kept playing in the background for no apparent reason except to have PMMM fans reminisce about where they have heard those lovely tunes before.
I also personally am disappointed in the fact that (MINOR SPOILERS) the voice of the creatures that say "have you heard? have you heard?" is that of a normal human being instead of the disjointed sounds that the game has. It was just more powerful in the game.
CHARACTER: 6
The characters are not completely copied and pasted from the original cast as some people say, but there are many similarities. Iroha has somewhat low self-esteem like Madoka. However, their family dynamics are completely different as Madoka has a loving and supportive family that is always there for her whereas Iroha's family takes off on a trip and leaves her all by herself. Iroha is also much lonelier than Madoka. Aside from the one magic girl friend (that mysteriously isn't seen again after episode 1), she doesn't have any friends and her loneliness was portrayed quite well in episode 1 through her being taken advantage of by her classmates that had friends.
Yachiyo seems like a Homura--quiet, protective--which, in a way she is. However, Yachiyo pushes away her friends when Homura tries to keep them (or rather, Madoka) as a part of her life.
In essence, though the personalities of the characters are similar to the original, they are not carbon copies and their actions are drastically different.
ENJOYMENT: 7
I love the art style and music. The first and second episode (aside from the addition of the random friend) was wonderful, though it started to fall off by the third. The fight scene in the third episode was especially disappointing. I hope it was because they saved their budget for the later fights. I, as a player of the game, clearly have some bias when coming to this anime. I'm disappointed because they kept much of the dialogue and it feels like the anime is the game come to life without the extra fighting of familiars in-between plot points. The fourth episode felt rushed and disjointed because the girls just walk around and talk all day and the only loss/conflict that they had was that Yachiyo couldn't get the items that were on sale.
But, since it's following the game plot pretty well, I'll be watching until the end. The themes really interest me ("Magic girls can be saved in Kamihana City!"), though I won't say too much in case of spoilers.
TLDR; The story and it's themes are interesting and the art is beautiful, but the way it is directed takes away from the enjoyment. However, as a fan of the Magia Record game and the original Madoka Magica, I will still watch it till the end.
If you're a fan of the game, I would give it a watch. If you're looking for some more philosophical questioning of magic girls and why they should suffer such a fate, this might be for you. If you want more of the beautiful art style, this is also a good watch! However, if you're desperate for edgier, sob stories that end in tragedy, I'm sorry to break it to you but Magia Record seems to be a lot less angsty than the original TV series. But I think that sometimes, a little light-heartedness is ok.
P.S. (SPOILER FOR MADOKA MAGICA) For those of you wondering, Magia Record takes place in one of Homura's alternate timelines before the timeline that took place in the Madoka Magica series
